On March 1-3, WinterWonderGrass staged its 11th annual Colorado festival, drawing some 5,000 fans to the snowy peaks of Steamboat Springs, Colo. for a weekend of country, bluegrass, and warm welcomes to the frozen mountain town. This year’s sold-out series hosted 24 total acts and some of the biggest names in the scene, including The Dead South, The Infamous Stringdusters, Paul Cauthen, Sierra Ferrell, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Kitchen Dwellers, Andy Frasco & The U.N., Lindsay Lou, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country and Sam Grisman Project, alongside many more.
Among the festival’s many highlights were thrilling main and side stage performances from cover ensemble Pickin’ On The Dead, who tapped lauded violinist Coleman Smith, banjo expert Erik Yates, Rob Eaton of Dark Star Orchestra and Kyle Hollingsworth on The String Cheese Incident for scattered sit-in. Attendees also witnessed the first main stage performance from festival veterans WinterWonderWomen, an all-woman bluegrass supergroup formed at the event’s 2019 presentation.
Offstage, WinterWonderGrass is distinguished by its central focus on environmental justice, community building and family-friendly experiences. This year, the festival acted on these noble goals through a range of exercises, including the sale of exclusively sustainably sourced merchandise, the first-ever Kids Jam with Camp Coletrain (for the over 350 kids in attendance) and the donation of all excess food to United Way. United Way–a network of fundraising affiliates delivering specialized treatment to locales across the country–was one of the festival’s two nonprofit partners, alongside LiftUp of Routt County, a multifaceted service organization providing for the local community.
WinterWonderGrass shared photographs from this year’s event. Scroll down for a glimpse into the unique event. Images courtesy of Lauren Hartmann, Oscar G and Tobin Voggesser.
